Compilation the First
by Flickering Ember
Summary: A gathering of one-shots and ne'er-to-be-finished's. Read at your own risk, ratings vary between shots. Rated T as a general though.
1. I hate you

Summary: A glance. A glare. A sneer. A snarl. And every day since then, he heard those words, even if she never did say them again.

Characters featured: Brick, Blossom

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He didn't know what was wrong with him. He should have hated her, despised her wholly and unconditionally - but he didn't. He didn't, and he hated that too. He hated her - but once every now and then, when he would watch those thick, impenetrable walls she'd built up crack and crumble, and, just for a moment, he'd see something other than arrogance, or a stoic face. He would see a brief glitter of tears, or a flash of a bright smile, and his heart would start thumping in his chest. He wouldn't be able to think straight, and suddenly, all he would picture was being pressed up against her, whispering sweet nothings into her ear and assuring her that just as she was his, he was hers, nothing would ever change that, and she would give him that wonderful, wonderful smile -

And the walls would come up, and his heart would pang as her eyes closed and she breathed, then carried on like she'd never let go of the facade. He would feel sad - no, not sad, he felt regretful, guilty (both emotions he despised so), and filled with the knowledge that he'd helped push her to that point, that _he_ was the one who told her that he hated her, who glared at her every passing moment, who told her that everything was _her fault_, and who had told her so intently that killing her would be his greatest achievement. And she had easily returned his hate-filled look (and oh, how he wished that those eyes were soft with affection or blank with death) as she replied that no, it wouldn't be, because he would never kill her, because she would end him first. For so long they traded these looks and these words and their intense loathing of each other that it became second nature. They were such perfect enemies that they hardly needed the words - just one glance communicated a lifetime of torment, no matter how brief. What words they shared were clipped and barbed, designed to stealthily - or not - hurt the other in the way that only words could.

But neither of them had ever, _ever_, uttered the words 'I hate you.' Not with real meaning anyway. There was always something defiant, or defeated, or (and this may have just been him, or his wishful thinking) reluctant about those words - they were never spoken in whole, incomprehensible truth. But now? Now, as he looked at her standing before him, looking beautiful and graceful as she always did, still though she was, his eyes wide and the words he'd been longing to say for so, so long burning on his tongue, she turned a dead-eyed glare on him and whispered, so softly it was almost unheard.

_"I hate you."_

He wondered if the pain in his chest was his heart breaking or soaring.


	2. This twisted fairy tale

**AN: Please note that this takes place in an AU, wherein every single major character is from a fairy tale of some sort, and they are well aware of this. Enjoy~**

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Summary: This wasn't his ending, it just couldn't be.

Characters featured: Boomer, Bubbles

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They always say - in this strange town at least - that, in a fairy tale, the prince rescues the princess, and they live happily ever after. If that was the case and this was his fairy tale - and it had to be, because he was a character, and none of this could be real - then it must have been written all wrong. He rescued his princess (except she hadn't really been a princess, she was a maid, but details, details) from the evil monster - and they fought. He rescued her, and she turned on him with eyes filled with fire and hate and death, and he realized that his princess wasn't happy or grateful or even remotely in love with him.

'You killed him,' she accused, 'you killed my only friend!'

And he was so, so confused. This was his story, that was the monster, he rescued her - didn't that make him a good guy? But when she turned on him, glowing with her rage, he realized he hadn't killed the monster, he'd killed the second savior, and had just royally messed up his own fairy tale. he almost didn't fight back, when she started attacking him, but then he remembered that simply taking the abuse meant death - it did with his brothers, at least - and he snapped into action and defended himself. They fought for five, ten, twenty, forty minutes. He won in the end, by just a hair, by virtue of her being minutely weaker, and when he won, she broke down crying over her supposed friend.

'You killed him, you killed him!' His princess sobbed. he ended up comforting her, but never did he apologize. When she fell asleep, he took her away to a safe place and kept her there, guarding her like any good knight. One day, he assured himself, she would love him like she was supposed to (because this _was_ his story), and on that day, he figured he would have his happily ever after.

But some days, he would simply watch her as she slept, looking so peaceful despite the malcontent way she acted when awake, and he would say to himself -

'If this is my story, and this is my ending, then my story is a very twisted one indeed.' And he would laugh to himself because he knew he would have a happily ever after. When he quieted down, and dark thoughts started to appear, he would tell himself, 'but it's not the end, because my happily ever after will come. Even if she's a maid, even if I'm just a knight, even if I killed her friend. It will come.'

He never did learn that this was his ending, that his fairy tale was written to be so twisted and cruel. No, not even when his princess escaped and left him to his lonely castle did he ever learn that this was his ending - his unfortunate sadly ever after.

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**AN: I don't like this 'shot. It just seems... forced. Ugh. On a random note, Octi was the 'monster' Boomer killed, brought to life courtesy of off-screen events.**

**Anyways.**

**Nuthin' Special: First off, your icon is adorable. Secondly, My usual spell/type-checker was down, so I'll be fixing up those mistakes now. Thank you for the notice, sweetie. Thirdly, the next one-shot is going to feature the Greens. Thank you for reviewing~**

**Friend: Aw, thanks dear~**

**See you on the flipside~**

**Ember**


End file.
